Wallace & Gromit’s arch-enemy returns in the trailer for the new Netflix short film

I always breathe a sigh of relief when a new project is announced by Aardman Animation. The studio behind some of the most inventive stop-motion projects of the past 50 years has never been as big a name or box office draw as Walt Disney Animation, but founders Peter Lord and David Sproxton’s quirky claymation company is just as important to the art, so you can imagine how loudly I screamed “Cheeeeeeee!” when Netflix announced a new appearance for Aardman’s unofficial mascots Wallace and Gromit.

Expected to be released “this winter” (although Netflix’s press release states a 2025 release). Wallace & Gromit – The Wild Revenge follows well-mannered, bumbling inventor Wallace and his watchful dog Gromit, who are on the brink of our current techpocalypse. Wallace, it seems, is fully rooted in Silicon Valley, and “Gromit’s concern that Wallace is becoming too dependent on his inventions proves to be justified,” according to a synopsis. The turning point: Wallace’s invention of an “intelligent” gnome with artificial intelligence that goes out of control. But there’s another familiar face pulling the strings: Feathers McGraw.

Introduced in the Oscar-winning short film of 1993 The wrong pants — one of the best chase movies of all time? — Feathers is a mute criminal mastermind who dresses as a chicken and wears a red rubber glove for a hat. He has made cameo appearances in other Wallace & Gromit shorts, the pair’s only feature film, that are hard to miss. The Curse of the Were-Rabbitand even the unfortunately little discussed video game from 2003 Wallace & Gromit in Project ZooBut Revenge, most poultry is supposed to give the penguin his true sequel moment, as a short teaser for the film reveals.

Image: Netflix

While Aardman’s distinctly British production struggled to reach American audiences – films like The Pirates! A band of outsiders, Shaun the SheepAnd Early man were hits around the world and flops in the States – the streaming era was good for the studio. In addition to producing last year’s sequel to Chicken race for Netflix, the studio also collaborated with Disney for the first time in 2023 and produced a segment for the Star Wars: Visions anthology series. And last December, Aardman even produced a Wallace and Gromit VR game for Meta Questand reminds us that there is no place the two of them cannot go.

A new Wallace & Gromit short on Netflix is ​​a no-brainer and a sign of respect: if Wes Anderson could do it, Aardman obviously can too.

Wallace & Gromit – The Wild Revenge Long-time Aardman creative Nick Park is once again directing, with actor Ben Whitehead returning as the voice of Wallace after taking over the voice of Peter Sallis in 2008. The Curse of the Giant RabbitThe short film is planned for this winter and is therefore an ideal preparation for the Oscar season.